Run Through the Rain

 i'm sharing this here because this is one story that never fails to make tears well in my eyes each time i read it. seriously, i've read this several times and i cry each time. and it doesn't matter if this really happened or not, it's just a wonderful story we all should learn something from.

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She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal*Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful brown haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the tops of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the Earth it has no time to flow out the spout.

We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Wal*Mart. We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I get lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day. Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in.

"Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.
"What?" Mom asked.
"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.
"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain."

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.
"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.
"This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"
"Don't you remember? When you were talking to daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything!'"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If God let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said. Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes through the puddles.

They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And Yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

---as posted by Ed on a forum at www.adventisthall.ning.com----


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i pray that one day i can be like this mother, able to recognize a significant moment in another person's life and cherish that moment and that person with all her heart. that i can exercise myself in wisdom when it comes to what matters to some other soul. even if it does or doesn't matter to me, so long as it matters to one soul, it matters.
but more than that, i pray that i can be like this little girl who's able to see God in any and every circumstance and able to take sunshine and rain with equal gladness of heart.

let's all, in faith, run through the rain. :D